Americans have high expectations for President-elect Donald Trump when it comes to handling unlawful immigration, job creation, and national security, but both supporters and skeptics of the Republican are keeping the expectation bar low among other issues, such as the environment, healthcare, and political divisions in the country, according to a new Gallup poll.
Trump's Perceived Strengths
Trump's perceived ability to control illegal immigration garnered support from 68% of survey respondents, largely due to his promised "largest deportation in U.S. history" being the most-discussed issue during his campaign. His plans to reduce unemployment and protect the country from terrorism ranked second, earning support from 66% of respondents.
Other issues that earned Trump a favorable majority include, improving the economy (58%), keeping the nation out of war (55%), cutting taxes (54%), reducing the crime rate (51%), and increasing respect for the United States abroad (50%).
Trump's Perceived Weaknesses
Moving on to Trump's lowest-performing issues, only 33% of survey participants believe he will "heal political divisions in this country," highlighting skepticism about his ability to bridge partisan divides. Merely 35% of participants said they believed Trump would improve the quality of the environment, compared to 61% who responded negatively.
Other low-performing issues include improving the healthcare system (40%), improving race relations (41%), improving education (43%), substantially reducing the federal budget deficit (45%), and improving conditions for minorities and the poor (46%).
Issues with Narrow Margins
Issues with narrower positive and negative responses include improving the way the federal government works and reducing the prices of groceries and other items. Both issues leaned slightly negative, with the margin of difference remaining within four percentage points.
Trump's 2016 Survey Results
In 2016, Trump's results were quite similar barring a few exceptions. Prior to Trump's first presidential term, survey participants showed much more optimism when it came to his perceived ability to improve education (53%) and the healthcare system (52%), both issues ranked among the five lowest this time around.
In contrast, Trump's perceived ability to keep the nation out of war saw a 17-point increase from 2016, while his already strong public perception of controlling illegal immigration rose by 9 points, followed by an 8-point gain in his perceived ability to reduce the crime rate.
Republicans vs. Democrats
Per Gallup, partisanship strongly influences Americans' expectations for the upcoming Trump administration. A majority of Republican participants responded positively to all the issues included in the survey, while most Democrats were skeptical about Trump's ability to achieve them. Only slightly more than a third of Democrats believed he would succeed in his top-ranking issues, including controlling illegal immigration.
How Does Trump Compare to Past Presidents?
This survey dates back to Ronald Reagan's 1980 transition. Since then, Barack Obama stands out as the president earning the highest scores on eight of the 11 issues for which comparisons with Trump are available. In comparison, Trump's most recent survey earned the highest ratings among incoming presidents on two issues—controlling illegal immigration and reducing the crime rate. No other incoming or returning president has achieved the highest scores on more than one issue.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
